Junior
third baseman Anthony Rendon (right) of Rice was selected as
preseason Player of the Year and senior right-hander Todd
McInnis was named preseason Pitcher of the Year in Conference
USA, in voting by the league’s head coaches and released by the
conference office.

Rendon earned the 2010 Dick
Howser Trophy as the top player in college baseball and was the
second player in C-USA history to be named Player of the Year in
consecutive seasons. Rendon batted .394 while leading the league
with 26 home runs. He tallied 83 runs, 85 RBI and 65 walks a
season ago. Rendon had a slugging percentage of .801 and on-base
percentage of .530. He went deep more times than he struck out
(22).

McInnis, a first team all-conference pick in
2010, has a career record of 25-13 in four seasons with a 3.85
ERA. He was 6-5 a season ago with an ERA of 3.30. He struck out
87 in 95.1 innings.

Rice, Southern Miss and East Carolina each had
three players on the preseason all-conference squad.

The 2011 season starts on Friday, Feb. 18. The
conference tournament will be played at Trustmark Park in Pearl,
Miss., from May 25-29. This will mark the first time the
championship will be played at a neutral site. The tournament
will use an eight-team pool-play format.